This unusual one-of-a-kind
hybrid, was created by Fred Carlson of Beyond the Trees,
for multi-instrumentalist and solo performance artist
Todd
Green. The name "Harpouditar" reflects
a combination of wire-strung harp or zither, mid-eastern
oud and classical guitar. Todd calls it the "Swar Rebouditar",
finding similarities to an East Indian zither called
the "swar mandal" and a plucked instrument found in
Afghanistan and Pakistan known as the "rebab", as well
as oud and guitar. In either case, it has two distinct
sections: a guitar-like neck and bridge, and a harp-like
arrangement of shorter strings that run diagonally across
the lower bout, below the oud or lute-like bridge. The
guitar-like section uses a long classical guitar scale
length (26-1/8 inches) and has seven courses of strings.
Six of these are configured so as to be analogous to
a standard 6-string guitar, however the three treble
courses (nominally the g, b and high e strings) are
doubled, to give something of the sound quality of the
doubled strings of an oud. The seventh course is also
doubled: two short, thin, steel strings on the bass
side of the neck serve a similar purpose the the 5th
string on a 5-string banjo, acting as unfretted drone
strings.

The fingerboard that runs beneath the strings
is ebony, and is set flush with the top of the instrument,
as on an oud or lute, rather than running above the
top as on a guitar. Also, the fingerboard has only five
tied-on nylon frets, leaving the rest of the neck fretless
(this is similar to the aforementioned rebab, which
has only three frets). The bridge is similar to a lute
or oud bridge in that the strings come directly off
the front edge of the bridge-wood, without a separate
string saddle. The strings run fairly close to the spruce
top of the instrument, which is protected by a clear
tap-plate. The top is braced to give a warm, rich classical
guitar quality to support the oud-like aspects of doubled
strings and fretless upper neck.

The harp
or zither section has 15 strings (allowing a 2-octave
range of diatonic tuning), which are a combination
of plain steel and plain brass. These are tuned
with zither-pin type tuners, and have a magical,
sparkley sound reminiscent of a wire-strung Celtic
harp. They are easily accessed for plucking by simply
pivoting the right arm a bit, and also give a lovely
sympathetic wash to the overall sound.
Visit Fred Carlson's BeyondTheTrees.com website for more information on his quality custom stringed
instruments and more.